Those following along with NICO Resources Limited (ASX:NC1) will no doubt be intrigued by the recent purchase of shares by Peter Cook, Non-Executive Chairman of the company, who spent a stonking AU$1.0m on stock at an average price of AU$0.40. Aside from being a solid chunk in its own right, the deft move also saw their holding increase by some 44%.

See our latest analysis for NICO Resources

NICO Resources Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In fact, the recent purchase by Peter Cook was the biggest purchase of NICO Resources shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price of AU$0.32. Their view may have changed since then, but at least it shows they felt optimistic at the time. In our view, the price an insider pays for shares is very important. Generally speaking, it catches our eye when insiders have purchased shares at above current prices, as it suggests they believed the shares were worth buying, even at a higher price.

In the last twelve months NICO Resources insiders were buying shares, but not selling. Their average price was about AU$0.44. This is nice to see since it implies that insiders might see value around current prices. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

NICO Resources is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of growing companies with insider buying.

Insider Ownership

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. Insiders own 31% of NICO Resources shares, worth about AU$11m. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About NICO Resources Insiders?

It's certainly positive to see the recent insider purchases. We also take confidence from the longer term picture of insider transactions. However, we note that the company didn't make a profit over the last twelve months, which makes us cautious. Given that insiders also own a fair bit of NICO Resources we think they are probably pretty confident of a bright future. So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. When we did our research, we found 5 warning signs for NICO Resources (2 are concerning!) that we believe deserve your full attention.